Chapter 371: Why Do You Two Brothers Have Such A Love-Hate Relationship for No Reason?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was only when Ruan Danchen walked over that she realized it was a picture of Qi Chengzhi in his younger days.
“I was talking to Chengyue just now. We had nothing to do, so we thought about how the baby would look like after he’s born. Chengyue said that we could roughly make out his appearance by looking at some pictures from Chengzhi’s younger days,” Song Yu smiled and said. She told Ruan Danchen to join them as well.
“Yes, the genes of our Qi family’s men are very strong, especially when it comes to the sons. If it’s a son, the baby will always be like his father. I’ve got plenty of first-hand experience with my father, my elder uncle, and my other siblings. Just look at Youxuan, doesn’t he look remarkably like my big brother? My mom said that Youxuan looks exactly like my big brother when he was younger, and when you put their two photos together, the only visible difference is the age of the photographs. Other than that, they’re virtually indistinguishable.” Qi Chengyue took a bite out of an apple and said with a smile.
Song Yu knew of Qi Youxuan’s history, and because of Qi Chengyue’s words, she could not help but look at Qi Youxuan. After some scrutiny, she really did notice that the boy was similar to Qi Chenglin in a number of aspects, although Ruan Danchen’s profile was still discernible in some of his minor characteristics.
Ruan Danchen did not think much however and simply looked at Qi Chengzhi’s photo. Qi Chengzhi had red lips and white teeth, and even though he was a young boy, he was a very handsome one at that. When he reached his teens, he remained no less handsome than he already was.
As she looked, she could not help but face Qi Chenglin, who was just beside her. “Do you have any pictures of you as a small boy at home?”
“They’re all with my parents,” Qi Chenglin smiled and answered. “You wanna see them?”
“Mm, I wanna see how you looked like when you were younger,” Ruan Danchen said.
Qi Youxuan was a chubby little boy and Guan Liya said that Qi Youxuan looked exactly like a young Qi Chenglin. Ruan Danchen wondered if Qi Chenglin was just as round and chubby.
Qi Chenglin’s present-day magnificence made it hard to imagine that he could be as adorable as Qi Youxuan.
“If you want to take a look, we’ll stop by my parents’ place and bring the albums back.” Qi Chenglin was calm not because he was not afraid of her looking at them, but because he completely forgot how he looked like when he was younger. Regret awaited him once Ruan Danchen laid eyes on the photographs.
Ruan Danchen did not know how he looked like, so she agreed to it gleefully.
“Auntie, where’s my elder uncle?” Qi Youxuan came in and did not spot Qi Chengzhi. He looked all around him and proceeded to ask about his uncle’s whereabouts.
“He’s cooking lunch in the kitchen,” Song Yu said with a smile.
Qi Chenglin did not seem shocked at all. Instead, it was Ruan Danchen who looked at the kitchen in shock, and with a stupefied look, she asked, “He’s cooking?”
“Aunt Yang’s on leave today. I’m pregnant, so he doesn’t allow me to do such work. He doesn’t even let me cook because he said I can’t be standing long, so he went to the kitchen himself.” Song Yu recalled Qi Chengzhi’s stoic demeanor and was unable to help herself from blushing and smiling.
“We’re in luck today. He can’t help it since Aunt Yang’s not here. He usually only cooks for Song Yu in secret. He’ll never cook for anyone else,” Qi Chengyue scrunched her nose and said.
“I didn’t expect Big Brother to know how to cook.” Ruan Danchen could not resist looking at Qi Chenglin. Both men shared the same surname, so why was it that Qi Chenglin did not know how to do anything at all?
Most of the time, he entered the kitchen only to get something. He would never touch the pots and pans.
Qi Chenglin remained silent.
His face soured as he felt like he was no match for Qi Chengzhi.
Beside him, Qi Youxuan blurted out crisply as if afraid that no one would notice him, “From what Grandma told me, Dad didn’t even know how to prepare powdered milk for me. There was one time he prepared it with boiling water which scalded my tongue and caused a blister to form.”
Qi Chenglin was speechless.
An anguished Ruan Danchen carried Qi Youxuan onto her lap. A voice then rang from the entrance of the kitchen. “If men nowadays don’t know how to cook, how can they take care of their wives?”
Ruan Danchen turned to look. At some point in time, Qi Chengzhi exited the kitchen and was standing at the kitchen entrance.
Qi Chenglin felt that he was purposely showing off his ability to cook. A man who was always so mindful of how he looked to others would never just show himself to everyone whilst wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
He was clearly showing off!
Soon after, Qi Youxuan then turned to Cheng Dongge—who was sipping tea just beside Qi Chengyue—and asked, “Do you know how to cook, Uncle?”
The corner of Cheng Dongge’s lips curled into a slight smile. He looked at Qi Chenglin and felt just a touch of pride.
“…” Qi Chengyue spotted his anticipation that she would gloat to everyone about him, but she could only say, “Normally, if we aren’t working and are at home, we would cook together. But if your uncle’s not busy, most of the time he’s the one that cooks for me.”
Ruan Danchen was not the only one staring at Qi Chenglin; Qi Youxuan’s beady, monochrome eyes were also staring furtively at him, as if the man had no skill whatsoever.
“Dad, you can’t be like this. What if Aunt Ruan is brought away by someone who knows how to cook? Other than your handsomeness, you don’t have any other strengths!”
“…” Qi Chenglin shot his son a look. The little brat just had to pick a time where many people were around to smear his name. “I have you as my trump card and that’s enough.”
He even looked at Ruan Danchen after saying that.
Everyone else did not understand exactly why but Ruan Danchen and Song Yu did.
Little did he expect Qi Youxuan to let out a long sigh and say with utmost seriousness, “Even though you have an extremely adorable son like me, you can’t be like this or else I can’t help you anymore.”
Qi Chenglin was at a loss for words.
He shifted his eyes to Qi Chengzhi, who was leaning against the door and swaying the spatula around. Qi Chengzhi’s smug expression really made Qi Chenglin grit his teeth. Qi Chenglin had reason to believe that Qi Chengzhi was showing off deliberately to him on that day.
Qi Chenglin let out a brief “hehe” and took the phone that he had earlier placed on the coffee table. All of a sudden, he turned to Qi Chengzhi and snapped a picture.
In the photograph, the handsome man was wearing an apron at his waist and swinging around his spatula—it was a stark contrast with usual his dignified aura. The apron appeared as though it was stuck on him, making for an odd and comical scene. Furthermore, his expression was dour, as if someone had put a spell on him.
Qi Chenglin snapped the picture too quickly. Qi Chengzhi did not even manage to dodge it and he simply turned glum as his picture was taken.
Qi Chenglin then tapped into his WeChat and sent the photo to the 8by8 group chat.
Han Zhuoli: [YO, someone put a spell on Chengzhi?]
Yan Beicheng: [What’s happening?]
Gui Zhiqian: [He looks pretty good.]
Wei Zilin: [I’ve seen my elder brother dress like this before when he was cooking a meal for his wife.]
Han Zhuoli: […]
Yan Beicheng: […]
Gui Zhiqian: [….]
Yan Beicheng: [Wei Ziqi knows how to cook?]
Han Zhuoli: [Can’t imagine that.]
Gui Zhiqian: [I’d like to try it if the chance ever comes.]
Wei Ziqi: [Keep dreaming.]
Qi Chenglin: [I have no idea whether you’ll be able to eat Wei Ziqi’s cooking, but my big brother’s busy in the kitchen right now. If you come here immediately, you can still make it.]
There was no longer any noise after that.
A satisfied Qi Chenglin placed the phone on the table without waiting for them to reply.
Qi Chengzhi did not have his phone with him, so he was in the dark as to what Qi Chenglin did.
Song Yu and Ruan Danchen, however, felt their phones vibrate, and they soon realized what Qi Chenglin had done once they took them out.
Song Yu could not help but look at Qi Chenglin and thought to herself, ‘So petty.’
Ruan Danchen was already used to it. She placed her phone down and asked, “Why are they all silent?”
“They’re rushing here,” Qi Chenglin said in a calm manner.
Ruan Danchen, “…”
Song Yu, “…”
Qi Chengzhi was already continuing his cooking inside the kitchen. Song Yu had no choice but to carry her pregnant self into the kitchen and tell him to cook more.
“Aren’t these enough?” Qi Chengzhi pointed at all those dishes.
“I think Yan Beicheng and the others are coming too,” Song Yu said.
Qi Chengzhi was utterly speechless.
“Why do you two brothers have such a love-hate relationship for no reason?” Song Yu shook her head, mumbled, and left.
“…” With a long face, Qi Chengzhi rummaged through the fridge and took all the ingredients out.
…
…
No one knew where Yan Beicheng and the others were originally at or how they managed to come over, but even in the jam-packed roads of B City, they managed to rush over in half an hour.
The intercom began sounding and Qi Chenglin walked leisurely over to get the door. He was able to see through the screen that a row of faces was present. Surprisingly, they all came at the same time.
Qi Chenglin opened the door for them and it took them no time to come in. Even Wei Ziqi’s entire family was here, including Little Muche, who was being pushed in on a baby stroller.
The little baby was glad to see a big brother inside the house and let out a huge smile. Being only a-year-and-three-months old, he could not say much and was only able to wiggle around excitedly in the baby stroller. He was not well-behaved at all and kept pointing at Qi Youxuan while wailing.
His apparent anxiousness prompted Wei Ran to carry him up and put him down.
Little Muche stood on the ground as if he was going to fall at any time. He began walking toward Qi Youxuan like a little penguin.
After struggling hard to reach the halfway point, Qi Youxuan got off the sofa abruptly and passed by Little Muche like the wind. He went up to Little Muran and said happily in a crisp voice, “Mumu.”
Little Muche was left in a daze, as if he was wondering why the big brother just breezed past and went to meet his big sister.
He stood rooted to the ground and turned his head to look dazedly at Qi Youxuan. He persevered and turned around, once again walking like a little penguin back to where he came from. Seeing that Qi Youxuan wanted to bring Little Muran to play, he mumbled, grabbed Qi Youxuan’s shirt and swung it as he wanted to play with them too.
Ruan Danchen was worried that Qi Youxuan might lose patience and walk too fast, thereby causing Little Muche to tumble over. She immediately reminded him to be more careful when walking and to bring the little toddler with him as well.
Qi Youxuan was not too happy to have someone tail him and be his lightbulb 1. He turned to look at Little Muche with some disdain.
Little Muche however, was much too young to understand. He opened his eyes adorably wide and said, “Hug hug…”
At that point in time, Little Muche was only able to mumble a few simple words that only required his lips to come in contact. For example, ‘Papa’, ‘Mama’, ‘Sister’, ‘Hug hug’, and similar words, as they did not require too much tongue movement.
‘Grandpa’ and ‘Grandma’ were not yet pronounceable for him.
Qi Youxuan, “…”
Looking at Qi Youxuan’s displeased expression, Qi Chenglin decided to remind his son. “This is your future wife’s younger brother.”
Wei Ziqi was speechless.
Without demur, Qi Youxuan stooped down and gave Little Muche a loving hug, even giving the baby a kiss on the cheek. He called out clearly, “Brother-in-law.”
Little Muche did not seem to have any inkling of what those words meant but Qi Youxuan’s actions still made him smile.
Qi Youxuan then held Little Muran in one hand and his brother-in-law in the other. “Brother-in-law, let’s go and play.”
Wei Ziqi remained at a loss for words.
“Hehe, your Qi family is really smart. Already taking possession of their wives since they’re young. No need to worry in the future then.” Yan Beicheng found a place to sit and treated it as his own home.
There were a few empty tea cups on the coffee table, courtesy of Ruan Danchen taking them out from the kitchen.
Yan Beicheng conceitedly poured out a cup of tea for himself and waved to Han Zhuoli as well as the rest. “Why are you standing there for? Quick, grab a seat. Make yourselves at home, don’t need to be too courteous.”
Everyone else fell silent.
Once everyone sat around the coffee table, Yan Beicheng took a sip of tea and turned to Han Zhuoli. “Say, why didn’t your family have this kind of thought before? Back then, if your elders knew better than to let you take possession of a daughter-in-law, your grandma wouldn’t need to suffer hair loss by worrying all day about your relationships as a single adult.”
Han Zhuoli, “…”
Was his grandmother really losing hair over that? Surely, it was just normal hair loss!
Wei Ziqi cleared his throat. “Am I nonexistent to all of you? I haven’t even agreed on anything yet. What’s all this nonsense for?”
Once he finished talking, Qi Chenglin looked at him, “My son’s not that bad. I think our Qi family’s men are much better than you back then when it comes to wives. Besides, your EQ is so high. What if Muran is treated badly if she is with someone else?”
Wei Ziqi, “…”
Wei Ran could not help but laugh. She pinched Wei Ziqi’s hands and said, “The kids are still young. We won’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Why are you being such a worrywart?”
It was only then that Wei Ziqi calmed down slightly. He thought about it and realized he had been a little too anxious about it.
Nothing could be done about that though as he had a daughter. Ever since Little Muran was born, he had been thinking about how terrible he would feel if Muran found a boyfriend and got married.
“We won’t know what will happen in the future with Muran, but as you can see from my big brother, the Qi family men will not let go of the person that they have their hearts set on,” Qi Chenglin said calmly while sipping his tea.
Wei Ziqi, “…”
Ruan Danchen looked at Wei Ziqi’s intensely grim expression and could not take it any longer. She sneakily poked Qi Chenglin and leaned over to him, whispering, “Let him enjoy the next twenty years of his life. Why do you need to provoke him so early?”
Although she said it softly, Wei Ziqi’s acute hearing enabled him to listen to each and every word. His expression became worse and he gnashed his teeth, saying, “It’ll be such a pity if you two don’t get married.”
“Nothing to pity at all. We will get married,” Qi Chenglin smiled. His words were said with such glee and confidence.
Just when they could feel that Wei Ziqi was about to flip the table over, Qi Chengzhi came at just the right time and called out, “Time to eat.”
Everyone then proceeded to make their way to the dining room and sat around the table.
Song Yu’s belly was big so it was a bit inconvenient for her. Ruan Danchen and Wei Ran both took small cartoon-shaped bowls that were meant for kids, filling them with food for Qi Youxuan and Little Muran to eat.
Qi Chengzhi even cooked a special bowl of noodles for Qi Youxuan’s brother-in-law, although he was not too happy to be cooking it. However, he still cooked it because Song Yu told him to.
Song Yu also told him to take out the baby chair—the one that they prepared for the unborn Youjin—so Little Muche could sit there for the time being. Wei Ran held up the bowl, intending to feed Little Muran, but Wei Ziqi took it from her and said, “I’ll feed him. You eat.”
When Wei Ziqi was at work, Little Muche would always pretend to act haplessly whenever Wei Ran fed him. If Wei Ziqi was around, however, a simple glare would turn Little Muche into a well-behaved boy who did what he was told and ate his meals properly.
Therefore, Wei Ran did not protest as she knew that her husband wanted her to eat her meal properly. When Little Muche saw that it was his father feeding him, he became well-behaved and did not dare to show any sign of stubbornness. He ate each mouthful that he was fed, and because it was a big mouthful, the entire bowl of noodles was soon gone.
Wei Ziqi then carried Little Muche out, allowing him to play with Qi Youxuan and Little Muran.
…
…
After the meal, everyone had some tea and chatted for a while. They did not stay and talk too long though, as they were afraid that Song Yu got tired in her pregnant state.
Qi Chenglin brought Ruan Danchen and Qi Youxuan to Jade Field Park. They looked for Guan Liya and asked for the pictures of Qi Chenglin when he was younger.
As Guan Liya went over to look for the photos, she turned around and asked, “Why do you want to look at your pictures from when you were small?”
“Danchen wants to look at them,” Qi Chenglin explained.
“If Ruan Danchen didn’t bring it up, you wouldn’t even think about looking at it. I suppose you’ve forgotten how you looked like when you were younger,” Guan Liya smiled and said.
Into the study they went, and from the bottom of the bookshelf, she dragged out a paper box.
The box looked clean and it was evident that it had been wiped regularly. Although it was at the bottom of the bookshelf, not a single speck of dust was on it.
Qi Chenglin carried the box and went into the living room.
Since they were all there, they decided that they might as well just look at the pictures on the spot. Guan Liya looked happy as well, perhaps because she also wanted to take a look and reminisce about the old times.
Guan Liya sat in the middle and hugged Qi Youxuan, placing the album on Qi Youxuan’s short and stubby thighs. Ruan Danchen and Qi Chenglin sat on either side.
The album was labeled according to Qi Chenglin’s age. Qi Chenglin as a newborn was of average size, with his face reddened and his two eyes black, shiny, and full of energy.
“It looks like Youxuan was he was younger.” Ruan Danchen saw one of Qi Youxuan’s baby photos back at Prestige Residences, which looked exactly like Qi Chenglin albeit with some minor differences.
“This is nothing. The true resemblance comes when he’s a bit older,” Guan Liya said.
She leaned over to the coffee table and fished out a thick album. While opening it, she said, “This album is when he was five or six years old. Exactly like Youxuan’s current age.”
When Guan Liya opened it, Ruan Danchen saw a short, fat kid sitting on the carpet. His fat legs were relaxed and there was even a watermelon in the little boy’s hands.
If it were not for the yellowed picture and the difference in clothing styles, Ruan Danchen would have actually thought that it was Qi Youxuan in the picture.
Qi Youxuan blinked and turned around to look at Guan Liya, “This is my Dad?”
“Yes. This was when he was five,” Guan Liya said while smiling. Her expression was very tender and she really missed Qi Chenglin’s adorable looks when he was younger. “Your dad loves to eat watermelon when he was younger especially when it was summertime. He’ll always have a small slice every day.”
Guan Liya used her hands to demonstrate the size, which was roughly as big as a ramen bowl.
Qi Youxuan turned his head to the other side and looked at Qi Chenglin for a long time. Then he looked down at the photo again and said, “It doesn’t look like you at all. Did you do any plastic surgery?”
Five-year-old Qi Chenglin was so round, but adult Qi Chenglin had such refined facial features with sharp and distinct lines.
Qi Chenglin, “…”
Footnotes:
Ch 371 Footnote 1
电灯泡 – a third wheel, or third-wheeling. Literally translates to ‘being a lightbulb’ or ‘lightbulbing’. Supposedly, the reason the term came about has much to do with an ideal dating situation—a nice, dark intimate setting where a couple can enjoy “intimate conversations”. However, the act of ‘lightbulbing’ or ‘being a lightbulb’ means that a third party is hanging around, thus rendering the couple unable to enjoy their moments together. Third-wheeling is akin to a light bulb in the sense that it makes the ideal date too bright and too public for the couple to enjoy.
